Window and trim stain color

16 years ago

We are building a home and need to choose interior window and trim stain. I would like something light in color. Our windows themselves are pine wood and have yellowed quite a bit in tone since installation a year ago (they're still unfinished). We are using red oak for the window trim and baseboard. I'm having a hard time trying to choose a stain or two stain colors to tie both the pine and oak together.

I stained several sample pieces and had been leaning toward Zarr Honey Maple --which is kind of a goldish tint -- for the oak and staining the actual windows "natural" since they are already goldish and thought they would end up similar in tone.

Our actual lumber for the window trim and baseboards has now come in and I see there is a wider natural variation in the wood -- with some of the oak pieces leaning more toward red...so the goldish stain appears pink on a test sample....which I'm not crazy about.

Of course I am obsessing about this and DH says, "Just choose something." :.) Any suggestions? Thanks!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

Michael
16 years ago
I would have a custom tint done instead of settling for shelf colors.

SW has a BAC wiping stain that is tintable. You have to ask for it. It's designed for high end work like cabinets, etc. Decide how close you want to be. Stain the oak to your liking and then have SW customize a stain for the pine. The two stain formulas will be different because the species are different.

Some important steps regarding the staining. You must now sand to fresh wood for best results. Also, be sure to rub in the stain in a circular motion, then wipe with the grain to finish.

Michael
kaypeakay
16 years ago
We tried out Ace and Minwax stains on our pine windows (Sierra Pacific Windows).
Light stains were: Puritan Pine by Minwax and Shaker Pine by Ace. Both were so light as to be barely discernable (to me) from just putting a clear poly coat on it (which we had done to a previously installed SP window).
Medium stains were: Ace Early American and Minwax Early American. Ace's EA came out much lighter than Minwax's, which read more darker red-brown to me. Ace's EA was really pretty - lighter golden with a little red. We are going with Ace's EA for the windows.
We also tried Minwax fruitwood and provincial. Fruitwood came out weirdly green for us. Provinical came out too dark for my taste.

We have red oak floors (left natural, no stain, just water based poly or whatever they put on them). I opted to go with SW Dover White (creamy white) paint for our window trim and baseboards. I know - most people paint the window too, or use stained wood trim, but I couldn't for a few reasons: One, I really do like the look of the white trim around the nice wood window and I find the white trim to be crisper, brighter and easier to pair with paint colors. Second, we couldn't get (afford) anything but pine, and I tried the aforementioned stains on pine and ho boy, they came out super blotchy and streaky. And we used a pre-conditioner, it's just the way pine takes stain, I guess. Some boards were beautiful, others looked simply awful. My husbadn wanted wood, but I convinced him to go with white after the staining came out so erratically.

Good luck to you!

KPK

ps - I'd also fool around with combining stains as that would probably work to tone down a darker color. Maybe try adding Minwax golden oak to the puritan pine - maybe it would beef it up a bit.
Related Discussions
Window trim - gel stain or normal stain?
Q
Comments (4)
Thank you both. The stained trim in behind is original. Would using a gel stain vs a normal stain be preferred with regard to having the least impact on the original trim?
...See More
white or wood Windows? white or stained window trim?
Q
Comments (3)
I would leave the windows and trim. You might consider painting the walls to a more neutral warm white.
...See More
Need help with roof color, siding and trim color and window trim updat
Q
Comments (5)
The window trim change would be to Craftsman style. Unless you are doing the work yourself it seems a lot of expense for little difference on upstairs windows. It would, however, be extremely easy to do on your front door as you would only need to change the top board. And you could replace the side lights with solid wood inserts, or you could use textured glass that would obscure the view while still letting light in. While the limestone exterior is very light it has a yellow hue. Simply speaking the easiest way to find colors that work with the warm limestone is to choose a nearby color. That was probably why the trim is green. Since you prefer a modern look, I suggest you keep your siding light and use color only in the trim. Below are two combinations that I like. I darkened the roof color in these pictures.
...See More
Coordinating floor and paint color for stained window trim
Q
Comments (1)
Inspo pictures
...See More